Midway to History

Former USS Midway crewman Jeff Kandul of Federal Way watched from the Bremerton ferry terminal as his former ship left Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on Tuesday. The aircraft carrier is headed for San Diego, where it will become a museum.Staff photo by Steve Zugschwerdt

The mothballed aircraft carrier USS Midway was towed out of Sinclair Inlet on Tuesday, bound for a shipyard in Oakland. After two months of exterior work, it will become a museum in San Diego.Staff photo by Steve Zugschwerdt

Joe Brignone, left, of Tacoma and Jeff Kandul served on USS Midway more than 30 years apart -- Brignone from 1957-59 and Kandul from 1990-91.Staff photo by Steve Zugschwerdt

As several tugboats pushed USS Midway past Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on Tuesday morning, the national anthem echoed along the waterfront.

Although a coincidence -- the anthem is played at 8 a.m. each day at the shipyard -- it served as a final salute for an aircraft carrier that began service during the last month of World War II.

In late spring, the Midway will become the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum. It's a fitting tribute for a ship with one of the richest histories in the past century, participating in virtually every major incident or war since World War II.

Standing at the ferry terminal were two former Midway sailors, Joe Brignone and Jeff Kandul. The duo, who served on the carrier more than a generation apart, watched as the ship left Bremerton for the final time.

"She's under way. Midway's under way," said Brignone, 65, a Tacoma resident who has a Web site dedicated to the ship, Midway Joe's Navy. "That's just great."

Watching the Midway sail past, Brignone and Kandul swapped sea stories as if they served together. The Midway, named after the famous WWII battle, was a unique ship, they said. No other even came close.

"The Midway is really a special ship to a lot of sailors," Brignone said. "For some reason, Midway has a real soul."

Plus, it was the first ship the two were assigned to when they began their Navy careers 30 years apart.

"For me, the Navy really started with the Midway," said Kandul, 32, a Federal Way resident. "You can't really describe it other than it's your first ship. It's kind of like your first love."

The Midway, moored in Bremerton's inactive fleet for the past decade, was pushed from its longtime berth along Navy Yard Highway just before 7 a.m. It met up with Foss Maritime's 8,200-horsepower tug, which is towing the carrier to an Oakland shipyard for two months of exterior work. The same tug pulled USS Constellation from San Diego to Bremerton last week after the carrier was decommissioned in August.

As the tug powered up, the Midway's heavy, rusted towing chain dangling from the front of ship lifted out of the water. The Midway was headed back to sea for the first time since its 1992 arrival in Bremerton.

Brignone, a former corrections officer in Pierce County, served on the Midway from November 1957, when it left PSNS after its first major modernization, until May 1959.

In 1958, during the tense Taiwan Strait Crisis when the Chinese continuously bombarded Quemoy and Matsu islands, the Midway patrolled the region. Brignone realized how serious the situation with China was when he was eating in the mess hall one day.

"We were sitting in the chow hall and this (weapons) elevator opens up and there are guys with guns guarding an atomic bomb," Brignone recalled. "They figured we were going to have to do some nuking in China."

Kandul, who wore a jacket Tuesday that bore his service patches, was on the Midway during its final deployment, when it participated in the first Gulf War. In an odd coincidence, the three ships Kandul served on during his eight-year Navy career are all mothballed in Bremerton -- the Midway, Independence and Constellation.

"One day, I was told this was going to be her final cruise, period," he said. "There was a solemn mood around the ship. There was never going to be another Midway."

Brignone and Kandul were grateful that their favorite ship would soon become a museum. In July, the Navy donated the Midway for its use as a museum, and last month gave the pier where Midway will be moored to the city of San Diego.

A private group has been attempting to bring the Midway to San Diego since it was decommissioned there in 1992. The $8 million project has been privately financed and funded. The museum has an operating budget of $3 million to $4 million per year, including $750,000 per year for maintenance.

"The last few major milestones of this 11-year campaign have been reached literally in the last 60 days," museum spokesman Scott McGaugh said. "We are eagerly looking forward to its journey down the coast to San Diego."

The Midway is scheduled to arrive in San Diego in mid-December, just as its mooring pier is completed. The museum will then open in late spring with the flight deck, hangar bay and two levels of the island open for public tours.

As the Midway sailed past the Bremerton boardwalk Tuesday, Kandul, unable to sleep the night before because of the anticipation its departure, had mixed emotions.

"She's going on to a better place," he said. "She's going to get a lot more recognized than just sitting here with a bunch of mothballed ships.

"Every ship has its day and this is one of them for Midway."

Reach reporter Chris Barron at (360) 792-9228 or at cbarron@thesunlink.com.

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USS Midway facts

COMMISSIONED: Sept. 10, 1945

DECOMMISSIONED: April 11, 1992

FIRST DEPLOYMENT: October 1947

LAST DEPLOYMENT: October 1990

FACT: In August 1991, USS Independence replaced USS Midway as the forward-deployed carrier in Japan. For the past five years, Midway and Independence sat next to each other in Bremerton's mothball fleet.

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On the Web

 SAN DIEGO AIRCRAFT CARRIER MUSEUM: www.midway.org

 MIDWAY JOE'S NAVY: midwayjoesnavy. myqth.com

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